They Really Lived
by ayrabelle
Summary: Higurashi Kagome will never see her family again, but she makes her children promise her one thing - 'I want them to know.'


His pace slowed as he neared the house, shifting his backpack. He could have come here earlier, but she made him memorize the date and he was afraid of showing up too soon. It looked like a nice house, but what struck him was seeing Goshinboku in the back. It really was still there, after all these years.

Seeing that tree, so familiar to him, gave him strength and he stepped up to knock on the front door.

A woman opened, with tired eyes but a pleasant smile. 'Good afternoon.'

The sight of her sucked the air out of his lungs. It was like seeing his mother again, and the scents that poured out of the house were immediately familiar to him even though it had been so long. 'Is this the home of Higurashi Kagome?' he managed to squeak.

The woman's smile faded. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'She doesn't live here anymore.' She moved to close the door, looking down and sighing.

He panicked then – his carefully prepared speech flying out of his head. 'No, I know – you see, she – I had to come here today…' Seeing that the woman was close to calling the police about an escaped mental inmate, he quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching and removed his hat. Her eyes widened in recognition and disbelief as they took in the ears on top of his head and her mouth dropped open before she remembered herself and opened the door so he could enter.

She led him immediately to a couch in the living room and sat down, indicating for him to join her. He could see questions swirling about as her eyes were continuously drawn to his ears, so he decided to start talking first.

'Okaa-san made me memorize this address and come here on this date to talk to you, Obaa-chan,' he started, looking at her somewhat shyly.

Her eyes widened and he could see some hope and happiness returning to her expression. 'What is your name?'

'Higurashi Miroku,' he told her. 'Chichi-ue never had a last name so we adopted ours from Okaa-san.'

'We?' she asked, a look coming to her eyes that Miroku couldn't quite place.

'Myself and my brother and sister,' he explained. 'We didn't want to overwhelm you with all of us showing up, so as the oldest I got to come here first. Thinking of my sister,' he continued, reaching into his backpack. 'Sango, she is artistic. Chichi-ue and Okaa-san never figured out where she got that from, but she made these for you,' he said, pulling out the pictures. As she looked through them, he could smell the tears pooling in her eyes. Miroku had never been good with crying, so he just started talking.

'Uncle Miroku, that is, the friend of Chichi-ue and Okaa-san who I'm named for, he knew someone that could paint so he brought him to their wedding to paint a picture of them and then once Sango, like my sister not Aunt Sango, got good enough she started doing portraits as well. We always had these on boards at home but Sango wanted you to have them too so she copied them onto paper.'

Miroku couldn't tell if she was even paying attention to him but one of his ears flicked back as he heard someone walk up behind him. He couldn't turn around and reveal his embarrassment to anyone else so he kept babbling.

'Okaa-san told me to come here today because she left yesterday and she didn't want you to miss her for long but Chichi-ue thought maybe I should wait so that it wasn't weird to have your daughter leave one day and the next here's her son telling you about the rest of her life. I agree with Okaa-san, but if you want I can leave now and come back later, or not at all–'

She looked up sharply, he was sure she was about to tell him something but her eyes were drawn to the person standing behind Miroku. 'Souta, come meet your oi-san.'

Souta? Miroku turned slowly – he knew it wasn't his own brother but that was still who he half-expected to see. And the resemblance was uncanny – his brother had their father's nose but otherwise he looked a lot like the boy ( _Oji-san_ ) standing there. It was odd to think about how much older he was than his uncle, but then again nothing about his family had ever been particularly typical.

'Oi-san?' Souta asked, still looking shocked.

Miroku nodded. 'I'm Miroku.'

Souta's brain seemed to start clicking again and he pouted, which was not what Miroku expected.

'Nee-chan didn't even name her son after me,' he said. This earned a laugh from Miroku.

'Not their first son, but my younger brother is named Souta. He looks almost exactly like you, too.'

Souta Oji-san brightened at that and looked like he was ready to launch into more questions but Obaa-chan spoke first.

'Souta, would you go get Jii-chan, please? I think he will want to hear all of this as well and we don't want to wear out Miroku-chan with so many questions.'

Souta Oji-san nodded and went running outside where they could hear him yelling. 'Jii-chan! Come meet Kagome's son!'

Miroku smiled – he and his siblings hadn't been sure what kind of reception they would get. Okaa-san had promised that her family would be glad to see them, but they hadn't expected to be as welcome as Miroku was feeling already.

'Would you and your brother and sister like to join us for dinner today?' Obaa-chan asked, surprising Miroku. He was sure he hadn't mentioned that the others were in town as well. She smiled shrewdly, and Miroku smiled back. She was one who understood longing and waiting. The plan had always been for just Miroku to meet them first, but all three of them had been waiting for this day for hundreds of years so the other two couldn't simply wait at home. Souta had recently started dating a boy and told him on their first date that he would be busy on this day, while Sango had simply left her husband and children behind.

'We would love to,' he responded, smiling as a hole he didn't even know was in his heart began to fill. Okaa-san had described her family to them all, but nothing compared to being loved and accepted by them in person.

Before either of them could continue, Miroku heard Souta Oji-san's voice returning. 'And Kagome named her second son after me! Miroku Oi-san says that he looks just like me!'

After Souta Oji-san ran back inside Jii-chan appeared in the doorway and stopped, looking closely at Miroku.

'Hmph,' he said. 'I guess you do look like that hanyou boy.'

Miroku couldn't help it – he barked a laugh at that one. 'You only say that because you haven't met Sango yet,' he explained to the confused family. 'She looks more like Chichi-ue than I ever will.'

This led into a general discussion about himself and his siblings. Miroku, the one that looked like an even mix between the parents and who could track the oldest youkai trail for weeks if needed but preferred to be in the background of a group. Sango, who looked exactly like Chichi-ue but had artistic talent from who-knows-where and the easy-going temperament of Okaa-san. And then Souta, who looked more like Okaa-san but with the same nose and temperament as Chichi-ue who turned out to be the best leader of them all. Souta Oji-san asked questions rapid-fire while Obaa-chan and Jii-chan simply listened. He wanted to know all about the three siblings, what it was like growing up, what Kagome and Inuyasha did for work, what they all did for fun, what it was like living in so many different centuries.

Eventually, though, Souta Oji-san grew tired of asking questions and wanted to show Miroku around the grounds as Obaa-chan and Jii-chan watched from the back door. Their first stop was the shed, though it seemed to be a stop more to show Jii-chan that he cared rather than out of any real desire to show Miroku what was inside.

'This is the shed where Jii-chan keeps all of his family artifacts and sutras,' Souta Oji-san told him. Miroku had extended an arm to open the door and see what was inside, but at the word 'sutra' he quickly pulled it back. He was only one quarter youkai, but he had been on the receiving end of far too many pranks by Uncle Miroku to have any doubt whether he was affected by sutras or not. Souta Oji-san just laughed, though. 'Oh, don't worry. Jii-chan never did get any of his sutras to affect Inuyasha-niichan – I think they're all just fakes.'

Miroku had to smile at the thought of Chichi-ue dealing with false sutras but the tour was continuing. The next stop was Goshinboku. 'You know what this is, I think,' Souta Oji-san said. 'Kagome said that it hadn't moved when she was always jumping back and forth.'

Miroku nodded, suddenly unable to speak. He motioned to Souta Oji-san to wait a moment and jumped up into the tree. He heard Jii-chan comment that he had inherited his father's strength, but Miroku wasn't showing off. He simply found his favorite branch and sat for a moment. It looked just like it always had, and if he closed his eyes he could almost pretend that his mother and father there with him and they were all back home. He refused to dwell, though, and quickly jumped back down, only pausing to touch the ground below the tree where he and his siblings had buried both parents so long ago.

He could tell that Obaa-chan connected the dots and knew what that gesture meant, but he kept his focus on Souta Oji-san. The boy looked confused, but continued on to their last stop with the same enthusiasm. Miroku felt strange, looking into the Bone-Eaters Well. If he jumped in now, it wouldn't work – he and his siblings had all tried before. It didn't stop his imagination. If it did work, he would be back with his parents, before he had even been born. On that side of the well, they were still alive and finally together again. Oddly, that didn't make him feel lonely. Just because they were on the other side of the well didn't mean they weren't still with him. He could feel the evidence of that in his mother's family around him and in his parents' spirits in the Goshinboku tree.

His brother would laugh himself silly at these kinds of thoughts, but Miroku resolved to bring Sango back here when they all returned for dinner. He knew that she would understand.

Souta Oji-san led him back to Obaa-chan and Jii-chan at the house. Obaa-chan was still gazing at Goshinboku but was pulled back to her son and grandson when Miroku's stomach growled loudly. He grimaced – he had been too nervous to eat any lunch before coming over to the house. Souta Oji-san and Jii-chan laughed, but Obaa-chan merely smiled kindly.

'I think I am getting hungry as well. Souta, would you and Jii-chan get the table ready for everyone? There need to be six places at the table tonight.'

Souta Oji-san cheered at the prospect of meeting his other new family members and chattered to Jii-chan as they got plates out. Obaa-chan showed Miroku to the door, but he could tell that she had one last question – and one that she didn't want to ask in front of her son and father. 'You'll be back soon?'

Miroku nodded. 'The hotel isn't far, and I know Sango and Souta can't wait to meet all of you.'

She nodded and he waited – that certainly wasn't the question that he could see eating away at her.

'Kagome and Inuyasha,' she began hesitantly. 'They- they lived well?' He could smell the tears returning to her eyes.

He thought about that question for a moment. 'Well' didn't seem like a good enough word to describe the long and beautiful life that he saw his parents live together. He came up with the best way to say that and looked Obaa-chan in the eyes, tears pooling in his own as he felt his parents smiling next to him.

'They really lived.'

* * *

Okaa-san = Mother (a modern term since it refers to Kagome)  
Chichi-ue = Father (an older term since it refers to Inuyasha)  
Obaa-chan = Grandmother  
Jii-chan = Grandfather (used here because that is what Kagome would have called him to her children)  
Oi-san = Nephew  
Oji-san = Uncle

* * *

AN: This is just something that popped into my head and demanded to be written – I don't know how much I like some parts, though, so it might get rewritten at some point in the future. I don't know if the dates / ages work out, per say, but I thought it was a better story having Kagome and Inuyasha's kids telling the Higurashi family about their lives rather than grandkids or later. Call it a headcanon.

As for the honorifics / familial words, I used the Uncle term a lot to separate Kagome's brother Souta from her son Souta so hopefully I didn't butcher that and make someone cringe like every other sentence.

Lastly, anyone who has watched Secondhand Lions (and if you haven't, I definitely recommend it) might recognize my Miroku's last line as Walter's last line from the movie – I confess that it's one of my favorite lines from any movie.


End file.
